Let’s get real and honest about the ‘green’ elephant in the room.
Many people today are becoming advocates, warriors, and preachers for the environment and the ‘save the planet’ movement. They believe that if their actions are labeled ‘sustainable’ or ‘fair trade’ by someone, somewhere, it means they are responsible, wise, and ‘good’ consumers who are already doing their part.
By becoming more ‘sustainable’ or ‘green,’ they think they are the heroes of the world, entitled to shame everyone else who isn’t. And yet, even today, most have no real idea what actual sustainability means or how to achieve it efficiently, including people working in fields of clean energy, green tech, and a supposedly super-sustainable future.
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This topic is vast and complex, making it a challenge to know where to even begin a meaningful conversation without getting lost in the details. Sustainability is interconnected with everything in our reality—our food, shelter, physical well-being, and the balanced regeneration of nature. It touches every aspect of our economy, business, geopolitics, technology, and even social crises like war and hunger. Education, health, justice, culture, civilization, science—all are deeply tied to sustainability.
Sustainability is everywhere and in everything.
If you don’t see how every system in our reality is deeply interconnected and interdependent with all other systems and subsystems, you can’t fully comprehend what sustainability truly is or how to approach it. You have no choice but to address it with a completely systemic, interdependent mindset.
Sustainability is not about carbon markets, fair-trade labels, organic certifications, or any other type of green brainwashing or fear-based marketing techniques.
It’s about what makes sense—what is coherent, meaningful, and efficient for the entire macro-system that supports our shared reality. It’s about understanding what we can keep doing for the long term and what we should probably do less of if we want to keep enjoying life together.
Sustainability isn’t philosophical, moralistic, or religious. Yes, for many of us, it’s psychological and emotional, but at its core, it’s mathematical and scientific. It’s about logic, rational analysis, and systemic observation—seeing patterns and cycles that must be respected if we want to co-create with nature in safer and more efficient ways.
Sustainability isn’t about humans controlling, manipulating, or claiming illusory authority over natural processes or cycles. It’s about humility and wisdom—knowing how to respect, honor, and evolve in harmony with nature and its authentic ‘science.’ It’s about co-creating with nature, not manufacturing it to fit our selfish desires or repressed fears for survival.
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It always amuses me when people ask for my professional opinion as a ‘sustainability-driven’ engineer on what kind of energy is the ‘greenest’ or where we should be investing next to save the planet.
My answer is always the same, even if most people don’t like it.
The most sustainable and greenest energy is the energy you don’t use or even need. It’s pointless (and even dangerous) to talk about clean energy transition plans or sustainable development strategies if we don’t first address the inefficiencies in how we produce, sell, and consume energy today.
If a system invests most of its energy in useless or even harmful activities, what’s the point of making it ‘green’? Does a bomb made with clean energy make more sense than one made with fossil fuels? Should we build new solar or wind farms just to generate energy for war, destruction, or—on a deeper level—space invasion?
If, since the beginning of time, growing food required nothing but nature, why do we need hydroelectric plants or solar panels to grow hydroponic ‘sustainable’ rooftop vegetables in isolated warehouses?
For thousands of years, humanity built houses and entire civilizations with almost no additional energy beyond what nature provided, along with human creativity and physical effort. Yet today, we struggle to house people even in the wealthiest nations, though those lucky enough to have homes can boast they’re zero-carbon!
What’s the point of digging new mines, finding new energy sources, creating super-efficient infrastructure, and innovating sustainable construction techniques if we already know how to do it with almost nothing—and have known this for a very long time?
If we don’t know how to use energy wisely, what’s the point of making it greener, cleaner, or more sustainable?
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Money and power are often said to rule the world.
But I call bullshit on that. Energy rules, manipulates, and abuses the world—not money or power.
The financial system is based on the energy sector. It’s not about gold, greed, crypto, or anything else. It’s about energy, and it has been this way since the last world war. The entire economy, global market, and geopolitics are deeply entangled with how we, as humans, industries, organizations, and countries, use, sell, and consume energy.
If you want to understand how everything is interconnected, don’t follow the money—follow the energy and its distribution network at the macro scale. You’ll see it all. The reasons for our collective human misery will become painfully clear once you comprehend how energy truly works.
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Why are people so scared to even consider the concept of degrowth or the idea of reducing our collective energy consumption?
It's simple. People are afraid they might lose their jobs if we decide to consume less energy. If we stopped doing useless and harmful work, what would people do instead? How would they feed or house their families? How would they survive without a boring office job in the carbon market or a clean-tech lab?
Imagine, in some parallel reality, we truly commit to a sustainable world where we use only the energy we genuinely need for survival and well-being. How many sectors, companies, and jobs wouldn’t even exist? How many people would suddenly have no idea what to do with their lives?
If an engineer isn't supervising petroleum extraction or inventing carbon capture technology, or some algae-based clean energy solution, what would they do with their time? If the IT guy isn't building AI programs to help us colonize Mars, what could possibly excite and motivate him?
If an economist isn't using a hundred computers to create a fictional carbon market or a new bioeconomy, what would they do? And if all the people who watch, control, punish, and monitor others were no longer needed, how could they serve society differently while still being paid well?
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The energy transition is, first and foremost, a social transition. And social transition isn't about doing the same things but “greener.” It's about questioning our deeply ingrained, fear-based beliefs and changing our core behaviours as humans. It's about our collective psychology and healing process.
Today, we face both workforce and mental health crises on a collective level. Many people feel the jobs they do are meaningless or harmful to humanity and Nature. Yet, we’re terrified to stop doing these jobs that make us sick because we have no idea how else to survive or feed our families.
Our deep, unconscious fears for survival prevent us from making choices that would ultimately make us happier, healthier, and more sustainable.
We are arrogant enough to believe we can transform the entire system, save the world, or change the innate laws of Nature, but we can't even face our own fears with courage and honesty.
We push ourselves to burnout or other self-destructive paths, striving to make the world more “sustainable” or “fair.” But what's the point in trying to change the world if we don’t even know how to change ourselves? What’s the point of working hard for something that shouldn’t even be a problem in the first place?
Sustainability and fairness should be taken for granted and be non-negotiable for everyone. It’s pure mathematics if we want to survive. We shouldn’t have to fight or argue over it. We shouldn't waste time, energy, and resources protecting our capacity for short-term survival. It makes no sense. We use a tremendous amount of money, energy, and effort to fight over our selfish, miserable survival—or to protect it. In doing so, we are working toward destroying both Humanity and Nature, which actually compromises our long-term survival as a collective whole.
The logic is simple.
Imagine if every country decided to divert its entire military budget into creating education, healthcare, and sustainable food systems for its population. Imagine if we used education to show people that if they don't fight, they won’t need to fear for their survival. And if they aren’t afraid, they can use their energy and time to create, not destroy. To collaborate, not compete. To care, not control or protect.
To change the world, many would have to change the roles and characters they currently play. To transform the system, many sub-systems and individuals would need to be deeply transformed too.
If every dollar we currently invest in safety, security, protection, justice, and vengeance were invested in systemic healing of humans, regeneration of their natural environment, education, and meaningful social architecture, we could meet—and even surpass—all of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals within a few years. It could be easy, simple, and even joyful to achieve.
If only we weren’t so scared of each other. If only we could trust our own humanity a little more. If only.
We could transform the entire world in the blink of an eye—with genuine care, pleasure, and even collective happiness.
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If only we understood that a work-intensive, driven reality is complete nonsense and a slavery-based social construct. The concept of 'work' itself was created during the Industrial Revolution, which was only possible due to war and our deep fears for collective survival or our desire for revenge.
The more we work, the more unsustainable and unhealthy we become. This is simple mathematics and physics. The more we work, the more energy we use. The more energy we use, the more we need. The more we take, the less we have. The less we have, the more we compromise our own survival. The more we fear for our lives, the more willing we are to work or fight. The more we fight, the more money we make. The more money we have, the less scared we might feel.
And thus, the cycle of collective destruction is usually completed.
But we can reverse this cycle, and it’s actually very easy to do. We work less, we need less, we fear for our survival less, so we fight less, and ultimately, we are all happier and healthier. I believe this cycle is far more sustainable and coherent than burning ourselves out at boring jobs or investing all our energy into fighting a system of complete nonsense.
What I’m talking about here isn’t about right or left, red or blue, conservative or liberal. No matter where you are on the spectrum of your personal beliefs and values, you are still human. You probably have the same needs we all do for a normal, safe, and happy life. What you actually want is security—physical, emotional, and mental safety—love and care from those around you, and access to your inner power to evolve and become whatever you wish, with meaning, purpose, and coherence.
If those simple needs of yours were truly and authentically fulfilled by your local community, you honestly wouldn’t care about most of the things you care about now. You also wouldn’t need much to be happy, healthy, and accomplished.
Your basic needs can be met in a money-free, work-free, and even energy-free way if you are willing to face your deep survival fears, trust others, and have the courage to skillfully transform your inner system of limiting beliefs. You can have it all—happiness and health, both personal and collective—if you know how to efficiently transform your sense of unsafety into unconditional safety in your own mind and experienced reality.
When you are no longer scared, you are truly free. You have the choice and power to do whatever you wish with your time, energy, and resources. You have authority and control over your personal health and well-being. You decide how to collaborate and co-create a shared reality with other humans, one that makes more collective sense for all of us.
If a population is genuinely afraid of not being able to survive in the future, we cannot speak of any form of real freedom in a country with that level of fear. It’s just impossible. When you’re truly scared, you automatically give away your freedom and inner power for some form of protection. As long as something or someone is protecting you, you are not really free.
If your survival depends on the choices your government makes, the numbers in your bank account, or the decisions of your employer, you potentially have no idea what real freedom actually is. If your heart is filled with any form of fear, hate, or a desire for justice, fairness, or vengeance, you are not yet liberated or truly free.
You are most likely a slave to the system of nonsense. There’s no shame or judgment in this—most of us are complete slaves to this system because of our fears, and we have no idea how to make the system or our future more meaningful, resilient, and coherent. Most of us are stuck, powerless, desperate, and scared when confronted with the inefficiencies and dangers of our macro system.
No one knows how to get out safely, and no one knows how to actually fix it.
This is a shared struggle. Therefore, the solution must be collective as well. The truth here isn’t about who survives; it’s about whether we can all survive or not.
If we continue fighting, as we do today, over who should survive and who should die, we will all perish far faster and more painfully than we imagine. The argument is not about whose life is more valuable, useful, or meaningful. The actual choice each of us will face sooner or later is about how much Life itself is dear to us.
And this changes everything. When you truly choose Life and creation over Fear and destruction in every decision you make, everything transforms naturally. Everything begins to make beautiful and coherent sense to you, to us, and even to Nature.
You regenerate, and our planet regenerates.
When both you and the planet are truly healthy, there’s no reason to fear for your survival, nor will you need to work as you do today. You won’t need protection or safety. There’s no way you would make the same choices you’re making today. You wouldn’t spend your money, energy, or time on anything other than the authentic process of emergent co-creation with other humans, in deep respect for Nature and Humanity.
And if you were already investing your time and energy into something that made sense for both humans and the planet, we wouldn’t be having social, environmental, or economic disasters, or global crises. We wouldn’t even discuss sustainability as a concept because we’d be embodying it as our way of being and living, no matter what.
If each person were truly mindful, responsible, and compassionate about how they use their own energy and how they use our collective resources to satisfy their personal needs, the entire idea of sustainability, and everything related to it, would become completely obsolete. It would simply be an experienced reality for all of us and the normal way of doing things between us.